Duncan had his two year checkup yesterday. It went well except for the blood draw afterwards to test for lead; the person taking the blood was incompetent and ended up digging around in both elbows looking for a vein.

The big news is that Duncan doing slightly better on the growth charts. He’s up to 12th percentile in height and 20th in weight. We’re hoping this means our campaign trying to encourage him to eat more is paying off. My big takeaway is that we need to keep at it. The 12th percentile is better than when he was down around 3rd, but with a 5’7” mother and a 5’11” father it is nowhere near where we feel he ought to be.

I think I should mention why we are so worked up about his height, or more precisely his relative shortness when he is otherwise well ahead developmentally. It’s pretty simple: being tall is an advantage and being short is a disadvantage, especially for men. It’s not fair, perhaps it’s not the way things ought to be, but it’s true. Shorter people do live longer on average, but taller people make more money. This is an election year, so I’m sure it will come up that historically height is the best predictor of which candidate will win the election. Warren and I want our kids to be tall for the simple reason that we want them to have every advantage possible, and as relatively tall people ourselves we are well aware of the advantages of being taller than average.

Yay, Duncan! Eyeballing the growth chart, 12th percentile looks to be around 5'6" or 5'7" as an adult, which is short but not crazy short. I hope he continues to improve, though.

Dorothy had the same experience of digging around for a vein at her lead check. It was excruciating for me to watch and to hold her down, and must have been awful for her, too. I think she was only nine months at that point, though - by the time she was two, we were in a place that doesn't have a lot of lead paint and doesn't mandate a test.